UPDATE 3-Rambus swings to profit in fourth quarter

* Q4 rev $90.9 mln vs $30.8 mln in Q4 2009

* Q4 EPS 29 cents vs loss 22 cents Q4 2009

* Shares up more than 1 pct in after hours trading (Adds comments from analyst call)

By Alexei Oreskovic and Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Rambus Inc (RMBS.O) swung to a profit and nearly tripled revenue in the fourth quarter, due to new licensing agreements.

Rambus also announced on Thursday that it renewed a patent licensing agreement with Panasonic Corp (6752.T) for five years. Rambus shares rose more than 1 percent in after hours trading.

Investors have been anticipating a decision from the Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could rule at any time on litigation involving Hynix Semiconductor Inc (000660.KS) and Micron Technology Inc (MU.O). Should the court decide in Rambus' favor, it could give the company leverage to negotiate additional licensing arrangements.

The company did not provide any updates on that case on Thursday.

Rambus, which designs and licenses technology related to computer memory, earned net income of $33.1 million, or 29 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. The company posted a net loss of $23.3 million, or 22 cents a share in the year ago period.

Revenue totaled $90.9 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $30.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, due to a recently signed licensing agreement with Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc 6665.T, as well as an agreement with Samsung.

On a conference call, chief executive Harold Hughes said Rambus would launch a set of innovations to support the gaming and graphics market. The company will demonstrate a new test chip at the DesignCon conference in California next week.

Rambus said it renewed a patent licensing agreement with Panasonic covering DRAM memory products under which Rambus will receive unspecified royalty payments based on the shipment of memory controllers.

Rambus shares, which have risen more than 20 percent since July, were up 26 cents at $21.21 in after hours trading on Thursday. (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Dan Levine; editing by Phil Berlowitz)